Daily FNArena News - FYI

The Dow put on 180 points last night as Bernanke said nothing in Europe, the US dollar weakened, gold surged, and oil hit an all time high.

As investors factor in rate cuts in the US foreign exchange markets are re-pricing accordingly with the US dollar weakening and the Australian currency being supported by interest rate differentials.

Wall Street was unsure just what clues were provided by various Fed statements last night, while a Japanese recession looks more clear.

The market was expecting payrolls to rise by 110,000 in August. The real number came as a big shock.

There is little in the way of economic data to focus on in the US until Friday, and Australia is quiet as well.

A big surge in the gold price saw Comex futures close over the magic US$700/oz level while Middle East tensions and low inventories sent oil ever higher. The Dow closed modestly higher.

The Dow was down 143 points last night in choppy trade. It seemed all news was bad news.

Weekly musings by your editor. This week I review two expert reports with interesting conclusions about the share market.

The world’s second largest economy is on the brink of recession, and a strong yen is only going to exacerbate the problems. In the meantime, global commercial paper markets remain frozen.

In recent weeks the yen has had an inverse relationship with equity prices, making it a good barometer of the risk appetite for global investors.